That photo of Pune, India is just amazing.

31 March 2011 Last updated at 07:12 ET


India census: population goes up to 1.21bn

Indian people India has a diverse population of a billion-plus people
Continue reading the main story
Related Stories

India launches biometric census
India begins epic census

India's population has grown by 181 million people over the past decade to 1.21bn, according to the 2011 census.

More people now live in India than in the United States, Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan and Bangladesh combined.

Although its rate of population growth is slowing, India is on course to overtake China as the most populous country around 2030, figures show.

The census also reveals a continuing preference for boys - India's sex ratio is at its worst since independence.

Statistics for the past 10 years show fewer girls than boys are being born or surviving. They show 914 girls were born for every 1,000 boys under the age of six, compared with 927 for every 1,000 in 2001 census.

"This is a matter of grave concern," Census Commissioner C Chandramauli told a press conference in the capital, Delhi.

The population of India now comprises 623.7 million males and 586.5 million females.
Literacy improving

Mr Chandramauli said the increase in the population over the past decade tallies with official estimates.

The data shows India's massive population growing fast - 181 million is roughly equivalent to the entire population of Brazil - but the rate of growth has slowed.

The 2011 census charts a population increase of 17.6% from 2001, compared with one of 21.5 in the previous decade.

Uttar Pradesh remains India's most populous state - 199 million people now live there.

In the field of education there was good news, with the census showing the literacy rate going up to 74% from about 65% in the last count.

India launched the 2011 census last year. The exercise costs in the region of 22bn rupees ($490m; £300m).

Some 2.7 million officials visited households in about 7,000 towns and 600,000 villages, classifying the population according to gender, religion, education and occupation.

The exercise, conducted every 10 years, faces big challenges, not least India's vast area and diversity of cultures.

Census officials also have to contend with high levels of illiteracy and millions of homeless people - as well as insurgencies by Maoists and other rebels which have left large parts of the country unsafe.

Check out this site for a cool graphical representation of the Rise of Asian Economies.



In graphics: Rising Asia

The BBC's Power of Asia season examines how economies in the region have changed over the past 30 years. Use the chart builder below to compare countries in terms of wealth, health, life expectancy, education and energy consumption.

Power of Asia logo

Special Report: The Power of Asia
In Graphics: Rising Asia
China's new billionaires
Asia Business news

The huge growth of Asian economies, driven by exporting products to developed western economies, has meant a complete shift in the economic landscape in recent decades.

Rising prosperity across Asia has also led to huge social changes, with people from rural areas migrating to urban centres and this rapid urbanisation creating cities that exhibit vast differences in wealth and lifestyle.

Using the graph above you can get an idea of how this new wealth has had an impact on social factors such as health and education in different countries across the region.
Life expectancy

Life expectancy is one of the traditional indicators of health but it is also an indicator of both wealth and government investment in healthcare. Where two countries have a similar level of GDP but one has a higher life expectancy, government spending on healthcare is likely to be the major factor in that difference.

Health

Access to a doctor is an important factor in a country's health, as a greater number of doctors leads to wider immunization and lower infant mortality. However, there is often a concentration of provision within cities, with more limited access to medical professionals in more sparsely populated areas. For example, in Thailand there are eight times as many doctors per person in Bangkok compared with some rural regions.

Education

An educated workforce is essential in allowing developing economies to compete in major growth industries, such as IT and advanced manufacturing. However, the figures in our chart show the education of young women, so they also give an idea of the levels of social equality within a country. The education of women tends to lag behind the education opportunities available to men of a similar age.

Energy

Economic growth and energy consumption are closely related and also indicate an increase in the standard of living throughout the population. Growth in energy use indicates improvements in a country's agriculture, transport, industry, and domestic energy supply. For individual households it can mean improvements in quality of life as people move from burning their own traditional fuels to an electrical supply.

About the data

Figures for GDP (adjusted for inflation) and Income per person (adjusted for inflation and comparable cost of living (Purchasing Power Parities)) can be found at Gapminder.org. You can also read about the sources they used and how their data was compiled.

Gapminder also has the data for other indicators featured in our charts, or you can find it at the original sources:

Life expectancy: UN, World Population Prospects

Health - Doctors per 1,000: World Bank, World Development Indicators

Education - School years for women 15 - 44: Institute for Healthmetrics and Evaluation

Energy - Energy use per person: International Energy Agency, via World Bank